Each year, GLMS invites physicians, residents and medical students to take part in the Richard Spear, MD, Memorial Essay Contest. Dr. Spear practiced surgery for many years in town and was famously a reader, beloved by his patients – his gift makes this contest possible.
This year, we asked our members to write on the topic“ Roots of Medical Hesitancy in Our Patients: How Can We Overcome the Challenge.” We asked our members to explore the roots of medical hesitancy they have encountered and to propose compassionate, evidence-informed strategies for rebuilding trust, and ways physicians can overcome these challenges.
Please enjoy the two winning essays which, as always, were judged anonymously. You’ ll be reading more honorable mentions as the year progresses!
my own cultural lens.
For this couple, trust was relational and communal. It was not automatically granted to the white coat. It had to be earned, and past experiences had eroded it. Their hesitation was not ignorance of danger. It was loyalty to a different structure of decision-making.
I struggled with the reality that an immigrant couple might delay a life-saving procedure because they did not fully trust the system I represent. And yet, I was also struck by something deeply human: their commitment to one another, their reliance on family, their insistence that decisions be made together and with counsel.
In emergency medicine, we measure success in door-to-balloon times. But that day reminded me that there is another clock running in every resuscitation room: the time it takes to bridge fear, culture, history and mistrust.
Opening an artery can take minutes. Opening trust can take much longer.
Dr. Platt is an emergency medicine physician with UofL Health and is a Professor with the University of Louisville School of Medicine.
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